Birthday Celebrations

As this post goes live my wife and I are on our way to see Don Henley at Harrah's Rincon. That's us celebrating at my birthday dinner last night, at Cheesecake Factory in Irvine.

The big 50:

My mom asked yesterday if I felt different, and while I said, "No, a day older than 49 years and 365 days, I guess," the truth is I do feel past the halfway mark. And I mean that in a good way. Five years ago, when I had my 45th year physical, my doctor said, "Well, you're halfway through your life." I thought that was good, since he must have expected me to live to 90. I've always expected to live to 100 (or thereabouts, with luck), based on the longevity of family members on both my mom's and dad's side. So, I guess if 100 is still the benchmark, I'm now finally on the downhill slope of my life. It's mellower and wiser, and probably happier as well. Sitting at the table last night with my family, I looked across at my two beautiful sons and said, "This is my birthday present." All I really truly wanted in life was to be married and have a family. I guess a lot of boys aren't acculturated to that as a life goal nowadays. But sitting last night out for dinner, it occurred to me that all the birthday presents on the world wouldn't make me happier than just sitting there with the people most important to me.

Anyway, my friend Pat Austin's having a birthday weekend as well, so head over there to wish her well: "Birthday Weekend, Estate Sales, and Old Houses."

I'll be back tomorrow with a report on the concert.

Thanks everybody!